Shoe with attachable fashion accessories

ABSTRACT

A shoe assembly and decorative shoe accessories for attachment to various parts of a shoe are disclosed. The decorative shoe accessories comprise a substantially U or C-shaped heel cover, the heel cover having first and second front ends and a back end. The heel cover has an inside surface and an outside surface, wherein when the heel cover is slipped over a heel of the shoe tension created when the first and second front ends are moved away from each other holds the heel cover in place over at least part of the heel. The outer surface of the heel cover has a decorative pattern. The decorative shoe accessories also comprise a toe box cover having a top surface and a bottom surface.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to shoes and accessories, andmore particularly, to shoes with attachable fashion accessories.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An integral part of a women's wardrobe is her shoes. Women's shoes varygreatly in design giving a woman many different ways to express her ownpersonal fashion statement. Furthermore, different occasions requiredifferent shoes and different outfits require different colored shoes.

This multitude of shoes can be a problem when travelling. There are onlyso many shoes that can be packed into a suitcase for a trip. Decidingwhich shoes to take on the trip can be further complicated by havingformal and informal gatherings to attend during the trip. Whilecompromises will be made in selecting the shoes to take, women willstill want to take the shoes that make the fashion statement they wantto make.

Thus, there is a need for a basic shoe with attachable shoe accessoriesso as to minimize the number of shoes needed, particularly for travel,while providing women the opportunity to personalize the shoe for eachoccasion.

Another issue with shoes occurs as women get older and feel less stableor comfortable wearing shoes with skinny heels. The skinny heels maylook better to some women but they will buy shoes with a larger morestable heel for practical reasons. Thus, there is a need for anaccessory which creates the illusion of skinner heels even when largerheels are used on the shoe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a feature and advantage of the present invention toprovide a shoe and attachable fashion accessories to overcome theproblems cited above.

According to one aspect of the invention, decorative shoe accessoriesfor attachment to various parts of a shoe are disclosed. The decorativeshoe accessories comprise a substantially U or C-shaped heel cover, saidheel cover having first and second front ends and a back end, said heelcover having an inside surface and an outside surface, wherein when saidheel cover is slipped over a heel of the shoe tension created when thefirst and second front ends are moved away from each other holds theheel cover in place over at least part of the heel, and the outersurface having a decorative pattern. The decorative shoe accessoriesalso comprises a toe box cover having a top surface and a bottomsurface, wherein said top surface has a decorative pattern and saidbottom surface has an attachment device for attaching the toe box coverto a top surface of a vamp covering a toe box of the shoe.

According to another aspect of the invention, a shoe assembly comprisingat least a heel, sole, insole and vamp is disclosed. The shoe assemblyhaving attachable accessories comprising: the heel; a substantially U orC-shaped heel cover, said heel cover having first and second front endsand a back end, said heel cover having an inside surface and an outsidesurface, wherein when said heel cover is slipped over the heel of theshoe tension created when the first and second front ends are moved awayfrom each other holds the heel cover in place over at least part of theheel, and the outer surface having a decorative pattern. The shoeassembly can also comprise a toe box cover having a top surface and abottom surface, wherein said top surface has a decorative pattern andsaid bottom surface has a first attachment device for attaching the toebox cover to a top surface of a vamp covering a toe box of the shoe.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described below andwhich will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a ladies shoe according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 2( a)-(b) illustrate a heel cover according to one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a ladies shoe according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 4( a)-(b) illustrate a heel cover with a plurality of projectionsaccording to another embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 5( a)-(b) illustrate a toe box cover according to anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a ladies shoe with the toe box cover according toanother embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a shoe assembly according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a modified heel according to another embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a shoe assembly according to another embodiment ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

As described briefly above, the invention is applicable to all shoesthat have a raised heel and applies directly to traditionally styledladies shoes including pumps, boots, high heels, wedges, etc., and theinvention is not limited thereto.

One embodiment of the invention discloses attachable fashion accessorieswhich can be attached to traditionally styled shoes. FIG. 1 illustratesa traditional ladies pump shoe 10. The shoe 10 has a sole 12 and a heel14. A toe box 16 is covered by a vamp 18 and the uppers 20 enclose afoot well 22. The vamp 18, the uppers 20 and the heel 14 are connectedto the sole 12 to complete the shoe 10.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a heel cover 24 can beused to cover some or all of the heel 14. The purpose of the heel cover24 is twofold. The first purpose is to allow a user the ability toindividualize their shoes by changing the appearance of the heel 14 byattaching differently decorated heel covers 24 to the heel 14. Thesecond purpose is to make the size of the heel 14 appear smaller bycreating a contrast between the heel cover 24 and the rest of the heel14 not covered by the heel cover 24. According to one embodiment of theinvention, the heel cover 24 has a substantially U or C shaped body asillustrated in FIGS. 2( a)-(b) but the invention is not limited thereto.The heel cover 24 is constructed out of at least one material from thegroup comprising: plastic, metal, cloth, acrylic, rubber, resin etc.,but the invention is not limited thereto. The heel cover 24 has an innersurface 30 and an outer surface 32. The heel cover 24 also has a firstfront end 34, a second front end 36 and a back end 38. As illustrated inFIG. 1 and FIG. 4( b), the top edge 25 of the heel cover 24 slopesdownward from the back end 38 towards the front ends 34, 36 therebyfollowing the contour of the sole 12, but the invention is not limitedthereto. The outer surface 32 of the heel cover 24 is decorated with adecorative pattern, design or color or some other decorative material,for example, fabric, glitter, rhinestones, etc., and the invention isnot limited thereto. The decorative pattern, design, color or materialcan be incorporated into the material composing the heel cover 24 or amaterial with the decorative pattern or color can be applied to theouter surface 32 of the heel cover 24.

As noted above, the heel cover 24 can be used on a variety of shoes thathave heels. As a result, the dimensions of the heel cover will varydepending on the type of shoe the heel cover 24 will be attached to. Theheel cover 24 may have a depth ranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches. Theheel cover 24 may have a width ranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches. Theheel cover 24 may have a height ranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the heel cover 24 isdesigned to slip over at least part of the existing heel 12 of the shoe10. In this embodiment, the distance between the first front end 34 andthe second front end 36 is at least slightly smaller than the diameterof the heel 12. As a result, when the first and second front ends aremoved away from each other when the cover is slipped over the heel,tension is created in the heel cover 24 to move the first and secondfront ends 34, 36 back together. This tension causes the heel cover 24to squeeze the outer surface of the heel 12 which holds the heel cover24 in place on the heel 12.

The heel cover 24, once placed on the heel 12, may cover part of theheel as illustrated in FIG. 1, or substantially all of the back andsides of the heel as illustrated in FIG. 3. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the first and second front ends 34, 36 maybe biased towards each other in a resting condition, thereby creatingeven more tension in the heel cover when the first and second front ends34, 36 are moved apart.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the inside surface 30of the heel cover 24 may have a connection device 27, for example a loopand hook material (Velcro®) which attaches to loop and hook material 13attached to an outer surface of the heel 12 as illustrated in FIG. 9.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the heel cover 24 mayalso have at least one projection located on the inner surface 30. Asillustrated in FIGS. 4( a)-(b), the heel cover 24 can have 3 projections42, 44, 46 located on the inner surface 30. The first two projections42, 44 can be located at or near the end of the first and second frontends 34, 36 while the third projection 46 can be located at the back end38 of the heel cover 24. It will be understood that the heel cover 24may only have one projection which is located at the back end of theheel cover 24 or the heel cover may have only two projections locatednear or at each of the first and second front ends 34, 36 and theinvention is not limited thereto. In addition, it will be understoodthat the two projections 42, 44 do not have to be located at the ends ofthe first and second front ends 34, 36 but can also be located anywherebetween the first and second front ends 34, 36 and the back end 38.Finally, while the projections illustrated in FIG. 4 are substantiallyvertical projections, the projections may also be substantiallyhorizontal and the invention is not limited thereto. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the projections 42, 44, 46 may fit intocorresponding grooves in the heel 12 but the invention is not limitedthereto. For example, the projections 42, 44 at the ends of the firstand second front ends 34, 36 can connect partially around the front endof the heel 12 to help hold the heel cover 24 in place over the heel 12.

According to another embodiment of the invention, another fashionaccessory is disclosed which can be attached to a shoe as illustrated inFIGS. 5( a)-(b). FIGS. 5( a)-(b) illustrate a toe box cover 50 which canbe attached to the vamp 18 covering the toe box 16. The toe box cover 50is constructed out of at least one material from the group comprising:plastic, metal, cloth, acrylic, rubber, resin, etc., but the inventionis not limited thereto. The toe box cover has a top surface 52 and abottom surface 54. The top surface 52 of the toe box cover 50 isdecorated with a decorative pattern, design or color, or some otherdecorative material, for example, fabric, glitter, rhinestones, etc.,and the invention is not limited thereto. The decorative pattern orcolor or material can be incorporated into the material composing thetoe box cover 50 or a material with the decorative pattern or color canbe applied to the top surface 52 of the toe box cover 50. The decorativepattern or color may be the same as that used on the heel cover 24 or acomplimentary pattern or color but the invention is not limited thereto.Furthermore, the toe box cover 50 can have any shape, for example, oval,circular, square, star shaped, rectangular, oblong, etc., and theinvention is not limited thereto.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a connection device 60 isattached to the bottom surface 54 of the toe box cover 50. In oneembodiment, the connection device 60 is a loop and hook connectiondevice (Velcro®) which connects to a corresponding loop and hookconnection device located on the vamp 18 as illustrated in FIG. 6. Inanother embodiment, the connection device 60 is a snap mechanism whichconnects to a corresponding snap mechanism on the vamp 18 but theinvention is not limited thereto. It will be understood by one skilledin the art that any two piece connection device can be used here,wherein one piece is located on the bottom surface 54 of the toe boxcover 50 and the other piece is located on the vamp 18 or uppers 20, andthe invention is not limited thereto.

According to another embodiment of the invention, an innovative shoeassembly is disclosed which has attachable fashion accessories. Theattachable fashion accessories are the heel cover 24 and the toe boxcover 50 described above. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the shoe assembly 70has the traditional elements such as a sole 72, a heel 74, a toe box 76,a vamp 78 and uppers 80 which create the foot well 82. As will bedescribed below, one or more of these features has been modified toaccommodate the attachable heel cover 24 and the toe box cover 50.

As noted above, the heel cover 24 can be slipped over a traditional heel74 and be held in place by tension in the heel cover 24 which causes theheel cover 24 to squeeze the sides and/or back of the heel 74. Accordingto one embodiment of the invention, the traditional heel 74 can bemodified in such a way as to allow the heel cover 24 to more securelyattach to the modified heel.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the modified heel 80 can have one or moregrooves 82, 84, 86 formed into the outer surface 88 of the heel 80. Inthis embodiment, the heel 80 has 3 grooves 82, 84, 86 formed in theouter surface 88 of the heel 80. The first two grooves 82, 84 arelocated along the sides 90, 92 of the heel 80. The grooves can belocated anywhere along the sides 90, 92 depending on how much of theheel 80 is intended to be covered by the heel cover 24. A third groove86 is located on the back 94 of the heel 80. It will be understood thatthe heel 80 can have one have one groove (groove 86), two grooves(grooves 82, 84) or any number of grooves and the invention is notlimited thereto.

The placement of the grooves 82, 84, 86 matches the placement of theprotrusions 42, 44, 46 on the inner surface 32 of the heel cover 24.When the heel cover 24 is slipped onto the modified heel 80, tension iscreated in the heel cover 24 when the first and second front ends aremoved away from each other. When properly positioned, the tension in theheel cover 24 will force the protrusions 42, 44, 46 into the grooves 82,84, 86 thereby helping to secure the heel cover 24 to the heel 80.

While the grooves and protrusions described above are oriented in asubstantially vertical manner, it will be understood that the groovesand protrusions can be oriented in a substantially horizontal manner andthe invention is not limited thereto.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the outer surface of theheel 80 can be a uniform color such as black but the invention is notlimited thereto. In the alternative, the heel 80 may be constructed outof a clear material such as plastic, acrylic, resin etc., so that theheel has a transparent appearance but the invention is not limitedthereto. The contrast created by the decorative pattern on the heelcover 24 and the remaining part of the black or transparent heel 80 notcovered by the heel cover 24 will help create the illusion that the heel80 is smaller than it actually is.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the shoe assembly 70 can be further modifiedby adding a connection device 96 to the outer surface of the vamp 18 soas to attach the toe box cover 50 to the shoe assembly 70. Theconnection device 96 can be part of any type of connection mechanismsuch as loop and Hook devices (Velcro®), a snap or clip mechanism andthe invention is not limited thereto. The connection device 96 is thecomplimentary part to the connection device 70 located on the bottomsurface of the toe box cover 50. It will be understood that theconnection device 96 can be located anywhere on the top surface of thevamp 18 or uppers 20 and attached to the vamp 18 or uppers 20 in anyknown manner. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that anytwo piece connection device can be used here, wherein one piece islocated on the bottom surface 54 of the toe box cover 50 and the otherpiece is located on the vamp 18 or uppers 20, and the invention is notlimited thereto.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fallwithin the true spirits and scope of the invention. Further, sincenumerous modifications and variations will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction and operation illustrated and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. Decorative shoe accessories for attachment tovarious parts of a shoe, comprising: a substantially U-shaped heelcover, said heel cover having first and second front ends and a backend, said heel cover having an inside surface and an outside surface,wherein when said heel cover is slipped over a heel of the shoe tensioncreated when the first and second front ends are moved away from eachother holds the heel cover in place over at least part of the heel. 2.The decorative shoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein saidinside surface of the heel cover has at least one protrusion which slipsinto a corresponding groove in the heel to help secure the heel inplace.
 3. The decorative shoe accessories according to claim 2, whereinthe inside surface of the heel cover has a first protrusion near thefirst front end of the heel cover and a second protrusion near thesecond front end of the heel cover.
 4. The decorative shoe accessoriesaccording to claim 3, wherein a third protrusion is located near theback end of the inside surface of the heel cover.
 5. The decorative shoeaccessories according to claim 1, wherein the heel cover covers only aportion of the sides and back of the heel.
 6. The decorative shoeaccessories according to claim 1, wherein said heel cover coverssubstantially all of the sides and back of the heel.
 7. The decorativeshoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein said outer surface of theheel cover is decorated with a decorative pattern, design or color. 8.The decorative shoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein the outersurface of the heel cover is covered with a decorative material.
 9. Thedecorative shoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein said heelcover has a depth ranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches.
 10. Thedecorative shoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein said heelcover has a width ranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches.
 11. Thedecorative shoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein said heelcover has a height ranging from 0.5 inch to 5 inches.
 12. The decorativeshoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein said heel cover isconstructed out of at least one material selected from plastic, rubber,metal, resin, acrylic.
 13. The decorative shoe accessories according toclaim 1, further comprising: a toe box cover having a top surface and abottom surface, wherein said top surface has a decorative pattern andsaid bottom surface has an attachment device for attaching the toe boxcover to a top surface of a vamp covering a toe box of the shoe.
 14. Thedecorative shoe accessories according to claim 13, wherein saidattachment device is a loop and hook attachment device.
 15. Thedecorative shoe accessories according to claim 13, wherein the outersurfaces of the toe box cover and the heel cover have matchingdecorative surfaces.
 16. The decorative shoe accessories according toclaim 13, wherein the outer surfaces of the toe box cover and the heelcover have different decorative surfaces.
 17. The decorative shoeaccessories according to claim 13, wherein the toe box cover has a shapeselected from the group comprising, oval, circular, square, star shaped,rectangular, and oblong.
 18. The decorative shoe accessories accordingto claim 13, wherein said attachment device is a snap.
 19. Thedecorative shoe accessories according to claim 1, wherein said first andsecond front ends of the heel cover are biased towards each other whenthe heel cover is in a resting state.
 20. The decorative shoeaccessories according to claim 1, wherein said heel cover issubstantially C-shaped.
 21. A shoe assembly comprising at least a heel,insole and vamp, the shoe assembly having attachable accessoriescomprising: the heel; a substantially U-shaped heel cover, said heelcover having first and second front ends and a back end, said heel coverhaving an inside surface and an outside surface, wherein when said heelcover is slipped over the heel of the shoe tension created when thefirst and second front ends are moved away from each other holds theheel cover in place over at least part of the heel.
 22. The shoeassembly according to claim 21, wherein said heel has an outer surfacewith at least one groove.
 23. The shoe assembly according to claim 22,wherein said inside surface of the heel cover has at least oneprotrusion which slips into the groove in the heel to help secure theheel in place.
 24. The shoe assembly according to claim 22, wherein saidouter surface of the heel has two grooves one on each side of the heel.25. The shoe assembly according to claim 24, wherein, wherein the insidesurface of the heel cover has a first protrusion near the first frontend of the heel cover and a second protrusion near the second front endof the heel cover.
 26. The shoe assembly according to claim 24, whereinsaid outer surface of the heel has a third groove on the back of theheel.
 27. The shoe assembly according to claim 26, wherein, wherein athird protrusion is located near the back end of the inside surface ofthe heel cover.
 28. The shoe assembly according to claim 21, whereinsaid heel is constructed out of a clear material.
 29. The shoe assemblyaccording to claim 21, wherein the heel cover covers only a portion ofthe sides and back of the heel.
 30. The shoe assembly according to claim21, wherein said heel cover covers substantially all of the sides andback of the heel.
 31. The shoe assembly according to claim 21, whereinsaid outer surface of the heel cover is decorated with a decorativepattern, design or color.
 32. The shoe assembly according to claim 21,wherein the outer surface of the heel cover is covered with a decorativematerial.
 33. The shoe assembly according to claim 21, wherein said heelcover has a depth ranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches.
 34. The shoeassembly according to claim 21, wherein said heel cover has a widthranging from 0.5 inches to 5 inches.
 35. The shoe assembly according toclaim 21, wherein said heel cover has a height ranging from 0.5 inch to5 inches.
 36. The shoe assembly according to claim 21, wherein said heelcover is constructed out of at least one material selected from plastic,rubber, metal, resin, acrylic.
 37. The shoe assembly according to claim21, further comprising: a toe box cover having a top surface and abottom surface, wherein said top surface has a decorative pattern andsaid bottom surface has a first attachment device for attaching the toebox cover to a top surface of a vamp covering a toe box of the shoe. 38.The shoe assembly according to claim 37, wherein said top surface of thevamp has a second attachment device which attaches to the firstattachment device on the toe box cover.
 39. The shoe assembly accordingto claim 38, wherein said first and second attachment devices are loopand hook attachment devices.
 40. The shoe assembly according to claim38, wherein said first and second attachment devices constitute a snapattachment device.
 41. The shoe assembly according to claim 37, whereinthe outer surfaces of the toe box cover and the heel cover have matchingdecorative surfaces.
 42. The shoe assembly according to claim 37,wherein the outer surfaces of the toe box cover and the heel cover havedifferent decorative surfaces.
 43. The shoe assembly according to claim37, wherein the toe box cover has a shape selected from the groupcomprising, oval, circular, square, star shaped, rectangular, andoblong.
 44. The shoe assembly according to claim 21, wherein said firstand second front ends of the heel cover are biased towards each otherwhen the heel cover is in a resting state.
 45. The shoe assemblyaccording to claim 21, wherein said heel is a solid color.
 46. The shoeassembly according to claim 45, wherein said heel is black.
 47. The shoeassembly according to claim 21, wherein said heel cover is substantiallyC-shaped.